Oct 14, 2013
If ever a book seemed to design to merge the "two cultures" of science and the humanities, it would be molecular biologist Sean B. Carroll's newest work, Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize. Nominally the story of the friendship between biologist Jacques Monod and philosopher Albert Camus, the book is also a history of World War II from the French perspective, as well as an exploration of the work and ideas of both men who were so profoundly affected by the war. Coming out of one of the most dismal periods in living memory, the humanism that both of these men embodied pushed them both to accomplishments deemed to be among the highest of our species. This Sunday, Carroll will join us on Atheists Talk to tell us about the book and what prompted him to spend the years required to research and write a book of this scope.